5 min 5 dollar dress

Did you know you can buy fabric that is practically already a dress? I bought a half a yard, sewed one seam down it, added the ribbon on the shoulders and around the bottom...And WA LA! the 5 minute, 5 dollar play dress!

Pirate Birthday Party...an old fave!

This was a really fun one to plan and do! I used a lot of PBK stuff, but you could use their ideas and do something similar!

Here are the invitations:

(I had fun downloading 10 pirate fonts on my computer. Just google pirate fonts and you'll get TONS!)

When the kids got there, they made "pirate oceans."

I used coke bottles without labels (I used goof-off to get the glue off) then I spray painted the lids gold. The bottles were prefilled half way with baby oil.

The kids put little shells in the bottle and then these pirate shaped buttons. I found them at a local craft store but you can google "dress it up" (that is the brand) and find them online.

Then I poured blue water and a little blue glitter in the bottles. We put craft glue in the lid and then hotglued around the bottom of the lid. Then I tied the ship (that didnt fit in the bottle) and the label on the top with rope.

Next, the kids gathered in the living room and a pirate (Rob) came and told them a story to get them started on a treasure hunt.

First, they got their pirate hats. Then the next clue took them to the mailbox where they earned their gold earrings. The next clue to the pool...

There, they had to walk the plank to earn their sword.

After a couple more clues they found themselves being attacked, and had to throw bombs at the other ship to earn their eye patches.

At this point I tried to get their picture taken.

I envisioned individual and group pictures...but I took what I could get!

They finally found their treasure chest that was actually a pinata!

It was filled with pouches of gold coins, loose gold coins and lots of candy.

After the pinata...it was time for a sack lunch (filled with uncrustables, carrot sticks, chips, string cheese, and a clementine) They all had pirate punch.

After lunch...finally, the Pirate Cake (a Rob creation)

I baked 4 square cakes and he molded this baby together! I think he used skewers to hold it together, that became the railing.

After all the fun, they went home with their party bags filled with all of the things that they had earned.

Next year maybe a movie party...at a theater?

A Special Delivery

Well, I was trying to come up with Valentines Ideas...and though it isnt super original, here is what I did.
I went to Victoria Secret and got a gift card, and the biggest box they had and the biggest bag they had. Then I put 2 dozen cupcakes in the bag, and the gift card and the boxers in the box and had them delivered to his office.
I thought it would be funny to put balloons with it too, to really make a scene...but I think the huge box and bag drew enough attention!


I am a little bit proud of my cupcakes because I went to our cupcake bakery and looked at them, and since they couldnt have them ready the next day...I had to make them. I used the Duncan Hines red velvet box and then made the cream cheese frosting using the sprinkles recipe: (1 stick butter, 1 cube cream cheese, 3.75 cups powder sugar, a little vanilla) Anyway I think they turned out well and I saved 50 dollars!

Robbie's Valentines...Done!

As you can see...I let Robbie pick out the theme. I was thinking Dr. Suess myself, but he was So excited about Wall-E this year.

I just put Eva up on a pop-up dot!

I personalized the labels for the kids in the class (this one is for his teacher Maestra Sylvia) I used cute spanish words like: funny, smart, and friend for some of them.

Fox Paws for less!!!

Wix.com

Easy burp cloths

My mom and I decided to spruce up some burpcloths with some fabric scraps. We just put them down the middle and sewed ribbon to the edges. We actually used pellon (iron on adhesive) on some, but they werent very soft, so I think it is better without.

The Hersheys Nugget Box

Our Primary gave these boxes to the teachers, and I thought they were such a good idea for Valentines. You use a pattern and make the box out of cardstock. It fits 8 hersheys nuggets perfectly. You can use address labels to recover the nuggets.
I am going to make them for Robbie's classmates and let him decorate the top (maybe a starwars picture with a pop-up dot) Then Ill print the labels with either the child's name on it or with cute valentine sayings.
Let me know if you want to try it and I'll email you the pattern.